Scintigraphic detection of intrapulmonary bleeding using technetium-99m sulfur colloid: concise communication.

Radionuclide imaging has been successfully used clinically to determine sites of gastrointestinal hemorrhage, but its use in hemoptysis has not been studied. A dog model of intrapulmonary hemorrhage was devised. Utilizing technetium sulfur colloid, at doses of 4 and 15 mCi, bleeding rates of 0.1--0.2 cc/min were detected. In some dogs, however, significantly higher bleeding into a large bronchus, which causes a diffuse distribution of the radionuclide.